A campaigner says she will never stop fighting in support of the Dying with Dignity Bill.
Gail O'Rourke was found not guilty in 2015 of assisting the suicide of her friend Bernadette Forde, who suffered from multiple sclerosis.
Ms O'Rourke says people will continue to suffer if the proposed legislation on assisted dying is pushed down the road.
The legislation is being brought forward by People Before Profit and Solidarity, with the campaign launched alongside CervicalCheck campaigner Vicky Phelan earlier this month.
However, the bill could face a delay of a year as the Government is considering sending it to be examined by a special Oireachtas committee.
Ms O'Rourke told The Hard Shoulder she has always been a supporter of this bill.
She explained: "Initially it was John Halligan who was overseeing it. [Marie Fleming's partner] Tom Curran helped draw it up with a series of barristers. It was moved to Gino Kenny, and he took over.
"I got so much hope in my heart when we met Vicky Phelan outside the Dáil... she is a powerhouse of a woman, and I felt she was a huge and integral cog in this moving forward.
"Putting this before committee is just going to take more time and more time."
She said she does understand the different opinions on the issue, and how people can be reluctant to deal with such an emotive subject.
However, she stressed there are people out there suffering every day who want the freedom of choice to die in a dignified way.
She observed: "The longer it gets kicked down the road, the more those people suffer.
"I think it's very cruel for them to not give it the free vote of conscience, which we were all hoping this is what it was going to move towards."
'It's purely a choice'
Ms O'Rourke said the legislation being proposed as a bill covering those with terminal illnesses, so even her own friend Bernadette wouldn't have been able to avail of it.
However, she said she understands it has to be strict, and that it will be open to amendments in 'either direction' as it moves forward.
She said there is nothing mandatory about what's being proposed, and it won't be for everyone - but it's the freedom of choice that matters to people who are considering assisted dying.
Speaking about Bernadette, Ms O'Rourke said her friend had a 'definitive idea' of where she was going to end her suffering.
She said: "The problem was she couldn't have anyone around here, because we could all be implicated in her death.
"I was charged with assisting her suicide, even though I was as careful as careful can be."
She said she can forgive and understand how many people and authorities intervened, but she will "never get over, never forgive and never forget" that her friend had to die alone.
She added: "That part of my heart will never heal, and to try to prevent anyone else out there from facing that... I will never stop fighting for this bill."
